Emotions and Monsters
by Bandit-Rahl
Summary: Naota is sixteen, and still fighting monsters. This story is about his realizing and coming to grips with his feelings for both Eri and Haruko. Read and Review, please.
1. Feelings

I do not, unfortunately, own FLCL. I wish I did, but oh well. Enjoy anyways, and please review. I want to know what to improve.

Haruko was gone. Finally. I'll admit that I was sorry to see her go, but I was still glad she left. The monsters still appeared every once in a while, but I didn't have to listen to her and my father, or put up with the abuse. I know it's been a while, but in some ways it still feels like yesterday.

She's been gone for almost four years now, but Kanchi and I have continued fighting monsters. Just barely six months after she left, the Medical Meccanica building was somehow rebuilt and the creatures and robots started to appear again. The things appear at about the rate of about one every month, so there's plenty of time to relax between fights.

My father moved to America to live with my brother about a year after Haruko left chasing Atomsk. He just couldn't seem to bear life around here without her. On the bright side, I've been running the bakery with Grandpa. Now that I'm old enough to actually have a real job and be paid for it, I've been working full-time in my grandfather's bakery.

My group of friends is nearly gone; the two guys moved out with their parents, but the dark haired Eri Ninamori stayed; she moved into my bakery/home when her parents moved after her father failed his attempt to be reelected mayor. I stayed in my old bedroom, and allowed her to move into my dad's old room. Of course, she didn't tell her parents that she would be moving into my house. It goes without saying that they would have freaked if they had found out she was moving into my house. As a matter of fact, they would have freaked if they had found out she was my friend. They're weird like that.

Anyway, Eri works with me now. Sometimes in the bakery with my grandfather, sometimes delivering stuff with me. Surprisingly, she doesn't complain about any of the things she has to do; she does seem to enjoy giving me more to do whenever she could, usually with a smirk.

Right now, I'm about a month overdue for a monster. The last two months have been quiet, with no activity in the Medical Meccanica center. I've been reading the newspapers, though, and it seems like a lot of people have just disappeared into the night. There have been nearly twenty such cases in the last sixty days. So, I was planning on going out to see what was up, to see if it was the monster I was waiting for or if it was just some depraved lunatic.

Up in my room, the only gear I grabbed was a jacket and my guitar. Which one? The one that Haruko left behind. I've learned to play some music on it, but it is still the most powerful weapon at my disposal. I threw it's sling over my shoulder and closed my bedroom door behind me, then walked down the stairs and through our living space.

Eri and Grandpa were sitting down and eating dinner. I had eaten earlier, so I declined Eri's offer when she asked if I was hungry. When I entered the room, neither of them said anything.

I was just passing the table when Eri spoke up. "Patrolling again?" she asked around a mouthful of noodles.

"Yeah," I nodded, coming to a stop but not looking at them.

Grandpa paused in his eating. "Alone?"

I nodded. "There shouldn't be anything out tonight. So I gave Kanchi the night off. He's probably down next to the river or something right now."

Eri scooped up some more noodles. "Careful, then," she said, then went back to eating her dinner. I picked up my hat from a nearby chair, then walked out the door.

It was a typical night. Mostly clear, with some clouds here and there. I hopped on my new moped, and started to drive in the direction of the bridge. No more monsters had come out of me since Haruko had left, and I wasn't sure where all of these new ones were coming from. Eri had volunteered to brainstorm on that, but so far had no ideas.

I parked the Moped near the bridge, then walked out onto the structure, lost in the past. I told Haruko that I loved her just before she left, and I think that was true. In the years since, I had come to realize that at that point I really had loved her, but the love of a twelve year old child wasn't any kind of love other than the love of a friend.

Once I had come to realize that, I had started to date people. I've had three whole relationships since then, and all had ended in disaster. Disaster, namely, meant that the girl freaked out when, in the middle of a date, I would have to fight some unimaginable creature that was threatening the city. My date would run away screaming, and I would go home angry after the fight. Grandpa and Eri always had the same response: they would shrug and call the girl a wuss. This coming from Eri who hardly saw the things Kanchi and I fought, and from Grandpa who hadn't seen any.

Having Eri live at my house was a blessing beyond anything Haruko ever was. Eri wasn't a housekeeper, but it was really nice to have a study partner in the house who was taking all of the same classes I was at the high school. Grandpa teased me about having her around once, but since I hit him over the head with my guitar, he hasn't said anything like it since.

It was sort of nice when Haruko had been staying in my room, on the nights that she wasn't in my father's with him. We would talk (by that I mean she would make fun of me and tease me and I would deny it all), and it was nice to have someone there I was somewhat close to. Eri, on the other hand, hardly said anything to me unless I said something first. I did, occasionally, find her looking at me and on the times where I caught her she just smirked and went back to what she was doing.

When I snapped out of my thoughts, I realized that I was nearly a mile away from my Moped. A glance at my watch showed that it was nearly one o'clock in the morning, and I groaned and started jogging back toward the bridge. I had wasted the entire night I was _supposed_ to be patrolling thinking about Eri and Haruko. And why? They were both just girls. Okay, one was a somewhat evil alien from some other planet and the other was a rather spoiled child of rich parents, but they were both female.

I shook my head and climbed on my Moped. Why was I thinking about them so much now? Sure, I was constantly thinking of Haruko, but more and more Eri was entering those thoughts. I started the bike and sped home.

When I got there, it was no surprise that all of the lights were out. I let myself in the front door and locked it behind me, then pulled my guitar strap over my head. With the instrument in hand, I walked back up the stairs toward my room.

I walked past the door to Eri's room, then stopped cold. For some reason, the light was still on in there, and I knew for a fact that she went to bed at the latest of eleven. I peeked in through the crack in the open door, and saw that she had fallen asleep in a chair facing the door. I'm not sure why, but I leaned my guitar against the wall in the hallway and pushed the doorway open. I walked over to where she was sleeping, and awkwardly picked her up. I carried the sleeping girl over to her bed and laid her down on it, then pulled a blanket up over her. She muttered something in her sleep, then latched onto my hand.

All of a sudden, I felt a twinge of panic. Was she waking up? When she saw me in her room, she'd probably throw a book at me or something, then make life miserable for the next year. But my worries were unfounded. She remained asleep, and rolled over.

I tried to extricate my hand from her death grip, and finally succeeded after nearly five minutes of trying. I stood there next to the bed and felt an unexplainable feeling of tenderness as I watched her sleeping. Instead of the usual look of disinterest that she wore, she had a small smile on her lips as she seemed to melt into the bed.

I watched her sleep for a few minutes, then snapped off the light and crept back to the door. Just when I was getting ready to close it, she whispered something else and I froze, afraid she was waking up. When she didn't say anything else, I finished closing the door, then picked up my guitar and finished the walk to my room. I didn't bother getting undressed, I just fell onto the bottom bunk and stared at the bed above me.

Now I was a little confused. Did I hear what I thought I had? Did it mean anything? Why would she have whispered "Naota" while she was sleeping? 

Why would she whisper my name?


	2. The Return

Unfortunately, I still don't own FLCL. Yet.

Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep last night. Not that I usually do get much sleep, but at least this time it wasn't because I was thinking about Haruko. No, this time I was thinking about Eri, and that had me really confused. Confusion is normal for me, ever since Haruko arrived. But I've never been confused about my friends, about Eri before.

I only slept for about two hours that night, and dreamt about Eri the entire time. That, almost as much as hearing her whisper my name, had me confused. I woke up at about seven thirty, half an hour before breakfast, and made a break for the shower. Eri was just coming out when I got there, her once again long hair still wet.

Standing back against the wall in front of the bathroom door, I studied the floor when she walked past, smelling of an herbal shampoo. Even looking down like I was, I still saw the small smile on her lips when she walked past me. As soon as she was out of the way, I made a break for it.

A cold shower didn't clear my head like I thought it would. After my ten minute shower, I was just as confused as I was when I woke up, only now I was more confused about myself. _Why_, I wondered,_ did I feel like I did last night? Tenderness, happiness, just at watching her sleep? What does _this_ mean?_

The hallway was empty when I left the bathroom and walked back to my bedroom. It only took me a minute to get dressed; I didn't need to worry about what to wear because it was Saturday and I was just planning on going down by the river to play my guitar and think.

Eri was waiting for me in the hallway when I came out of my room with my guitar in hand. Even though I'm slightly over six feet tall, the top of her head still came up to my chin. "Naota," she began somewhat shyly, then had to clear her throat. "Thank you."

"For what?"

She reached out and gently touched my arm. "I was waiting up for you to see if you had found anything out, but I guess I was just too tired to stay awake. Thank you for moving me to the bed."

I scratched my head. "No problem. I came back a lot later than I had been planning, so I guess it's my fault that you fell asleep in the chair."

Abruptly, Eri changed from shy to her normal self. "Well," she said with a twinkle in her eye as she began walking towards the stairs, "next time maybe you could put me in some clothes that would be more comfortable to sleep in."

I'm glad her back was turned, because I started choking on air and my face turned a brilliant red. That just made me more confused. What was she trying to say?

It took a lot of effort, but I managed to put my confusion and conflicting emotions out of my mind. I sat through a somewhat uncomfortable breakfast (I think I was the only uncomfortable one; grandpa was oblivious and Eri had a mischievous look), then cleared my dishes and tried to hurry out. Since it was Saturday and business would be slow, Grandpa had given Eri and I the day off and was going to run the bakery with his one other employee, some guy he hired for while Kanchi and I were fighting robots.

I was pulling my cap on and reaching for my guitar when Eri came up behind me. "Going somewhere?" she asked.

"Down to the river," I answered. "I want to look at the water and play my guitar."

She stepped in front of me and clasped her hands together. "Would you mind some company?"

I shifted uncomfortably, then shrugged out of the guitar strap. "Sure," I answered. "But only if you can wear the guitar down there for me."

She carefully took my guitar out of my hands, handling it as if it were a priceless object. "Thank you," she said quietly.

My vest, lying in the chair that my hat had been in, was the last thing I grabbed before going outside. I climbed on my Moped and started it up, then nearly jumped out of my skin when Eri put her arms around my waist. It took a moment to calm back down and then, after making sure she was ready, we took off.

As I had discovered while riding on Haruko's Vespa, it really was a short distance to the river. We parked near the bridge, then walked down to sit on the beach next to the bridge.

We didn't say a whole lot. For the most part, I just plucked at the guitar and we sat watching the waves in the river and watching Kanchi poke around the rocks on the far bank. Just as we were getting ready to leave, I heard a commotion.

On the far side of the bridge, on the side of the river we were on, someone was tripping and falling down the bank towards the beach. Eri stood up next to me, and watched the young woman flailing. "What do you think is wrong?" she asked.

I put my hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. "I don't know," I answered. "Wait here and I'll see." Without pause, I started walking, leaving my guitar in Eri's hands.

The woman was on her knees, leaning over and clutching her head. "Are you all right?" I asked, going to one knee next to her and putting my hand on her back. "Do you need help?" 

Her answer was a scream. She threw her head back and screamed again. I fell back in surprise, trying to avoid the horn sticking out from her forehead. Another scream, and something began to tear it's way out of her.

I scrambled away on my hands and knees, trying to get back to Eri and my guitar. The thing that tore out of the screaming woman's head shaped itself into a hand, the size of the one Kanchi had fought when he had come out of me. The robot turned on a finger, spinning towards me. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Kanchi leap into the air, flying towards me and the robot monster.

When Kanchi touched down near me, the monster's color changed from a pasty gray to yellow, and it sprang forward. It crashed into Kanchi, knocking him at least a hundred yards away and out into the middle of the river.

The monster changed back to it's original color, and turned back towards me. "Naota!" Eri hollered my name. "Catch!"

Her words barely registered on me before I snatched my musical instrument out of the air. I could hear the monster crashing towards me as I leapt to my feet and spun to meet it.

I spread my feet, then jumped forward with a yell. As hard as I could, I brought the guitar down like a sword. A musical note erupted into the afternoon air as the stock of the instrument impacted on the palm of the hand. Instinctively, I brought the guitar back up in front of me to guard against the explosion I knew was coming, and I wasn't disappointed.

The force of the explosion threw me onto my back at Eri's feet. The first thing I saw when my vision cleared was the surprised expression on Eri's face, and the blank monitor that served as Kanchi's. The girl reached down to help me up.

I nodded my thanks to her, then ran over to the woman the monster had come out of. "Are you okay now?" I asked, even though I knew the answer. Her headache would be gone, but she would still be pretty freaked out. I kneeled next to her, placing my guitar on the ground and my hand on her back in a comforting way.

The woman was in her late thirties or early forties, and she looked at me blankly. "What happened?" I asked her.

She continued to just stare at me blankly. "Did someone hit you?"

Finally, I got a response. The woman nodded. "It was a . . . a young woman," she answered. "I was going for a walk yesterday, and she came out of nowhere and hit me over the head with a big red guitar."

Eri was leaning over my shoulder. "She?"

I looked up at her and back at Kanchi. Something was starting to tickle at the back of my mind. It took a moment, but I all of a sudden realized what it was, just as the grating of a bike's motor met my ears. "Kanchi, get these two out of here," I ordered, picking my guitar back up and standing.

"But-" Eri opened her mouth to say something, but didn't get the chance. Kanchi scooped the two females up, one in each arm, and took to the sky. He didn't go far; just to the other side of the river where he stayed with the two girls.

I stood where I was with my feet spread and my arms hanging straight down at my sides. My head was slumped forward, but I still held my guitar.

The engine noise was cut off when it was shut off, behind me and up on the bridge. I could hear someone walking towards the edge of the bridge, and I really wasn't surprised when I heard the person speak.

"I see you're still alive, Takkun."

I raised my head up straight, but didn't turn around. "I told you, Haruko, my name isn't Takkun."


	3. Interlude the First

And now . . . I still don't own FLCL. That won't stop me from dreaming, however.

As the chapter title suggests, this is an interlude. A short little bit to help familiarize everyone with how I consider Naota to have changed and grown up in the four years between the series and this story.

Many thanks to those of you who have reviewed, and especially those who pointed out my need to explain some parts of my character development. You know who you are.

Just hearing Haruko's voice sent my mind back in time. In an instant, I began to remember all of the past four years, the pains and the triumphs.

Six months after the alien woman left, the Medical Meccanica building was rebuilt overnight. And by rebuilt, I mean that the whole iron-shaped thing was set straight, and the steam started to flow again. Robot monsters began appearing about once a month and, since they weren't coming out of me, I had to fight them _and_ figure out how they were being made. That investigation took over a year.

A year after Haruko left, my father finally decided that he had had enough. Grandpa and I, however, knew that it wasn't the stresses of life that stressed him out. It was the fact that after finding someone that he thought was a perfect woman, she left him. My brother, in America, wrote to Dad and told him that he had no problem with Dad moving in with him.

When Dad left, I never got the chance to move into his room. Within the week, my two best friends and their families had left, and Eri's parents were making arrangements to go. I don't know from where, but she got the idea that she could rent a room from us, and work in the bakery to pay her way. Grandpa was more than eager to agree, since Kanchi still hadn't learned to make descent bread, and so she broke the news to her parents.

Of course, she didn't mention that it was my house she was renting from. Her father agreed to let her move out as long as she wrote to them every week, and made sure to call them once a month.

The four of us, Kanchi, Grandpa, Eri, and I, all settled into something of a routine. During the weekdays, Eri and I went to school while Kanchi worked the bakery with Grandpa, then Eri and I worked the bakery in the afternoons. All four of us worked on Sunday, and the store was closed Saturdays.

Grandpa hired a helper because of what I learned in my investigation into Medical Meccanica. I found out that somehow people were being infected by some kind of robot building virus. What I couldn't learn was how but, because I didn't know how I had to be able to leave the bakery at a moment's notice. Grandpa said that he understood (since, after all, one of the first robots managed to tear the front off of the store while fighting me) and put an ad out in the paper for help wanted. The man who was hired answered to the name of Jordan Randal; he made no attempt to hide the fact that he had recently moved here from Omaha, Nebraska in the US, and never showed an interest in talking about himself. That suited me just fine. I never had an interest in talking about myself either, and I definitely didn't want to hear about anyone else.

I guess I've always been a serious person. Having to fight robots on my own, without anyone to coach me, forced me to do a lot of growing up. People have always told me that I'm too serious, but I guess that in my current line of work, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Thankfully, in the years after Haruko left I didn't hear anything from Commander Amarao or Kitsurubami. They were one interference in my life that I didn't need. I could just see them come in and try to control me and my fighting the robots for the sake of "damage control," or something like that.

And so, without any support other than that from Eri, Grandpa, and Kanchi, I have tried to fight the good fight. And now the one who started it all is back.


	4. Choices

Well, here's chapter three. I've gotten a few notices from people on how some of the names are spelled. Personally, I've been going to for name spellings and character history for both this story and my other fanfic. This site has been the only one I've found that seems to be extremely interested in quality of information. Still, if you think I should change spellings after looking at it, let me know.

Thanks for reading this!

I was snapped back into the present by the crunch of gravel as Haruko landed on the beach behind me. "So, Takkun, did you miss me?" the pink haired woman asked smugly as she began to circle around to stand in front of me.

Across the river, I could see that Kanchi had Eri in his arms and was about to come back over to this side. The other woman had disappeared, probably really freaked out by the quick battle.

Haruko leaned in close, giving my face a quick once-over as Kanchi and Eri landed nearby. Eri crossed her arms across her chest and looked angrily at the alien woman. "You aren't saying anything," Haruko said with a smirk. "Maybe you aren't breathing. Should I give you CPR?"

The angry look on Eri's face turned into a look of open hostility. I tried to keep my face neutral. "I'm breathing fine, _Raharu_," I answered, emphasizing her real name.

The alien woman stood in front of me with her fists on her hips. "That's good," she replied with a smirk. "Although I have to admit I would rather give you some mouth-to-mouth like you are now as compared to last time."

Now Eri was looking positively pissed off. "No way," she muttered under her breath.

Haruko noticed Eri only after she spoke. "And who's this, Takkun?" she asked me, stepping in front of Eri and inspecting her. To her credit, Eri didn't flinch when Haruko leaned in close to her.

"_Raharu_," I said, "you remember Eri Ninamori. She had the problem when you tried to give me ears, remember?" I was determined to use Haruko's real name until she came to grips with the fact that I wasn't particularly happy to see her.

The alien woman grunted, then turned back to me. "Well, Takkun," she said, "I need to talk to you. Can I stay at your place for a while? Your dad would probably be happy to see me."

I glared at her. "My father doesn't live near here anymore," I answered. "And there's no room: we're renting out our spare space."

"Well," the pink haired woman said slowly, "can we get together to talk for a while this afternoon?"

Now I was starting to feel desperate. I _really_ needed some time to think before I would feel ready to face Haruko in conversation, so I blurted the first excuse that came to my mind. "Not this afternoon," I stuttered, desperately trying to sound convincing, "I promised to spend the afternoon with Eri."

"Oh," Haruko said slyly, drawing out the word. She peered at me, then leaned in close to Eri and gave her a coy once-over. "Is she your girlfriend?"

The teenage woman gave her a smile so cold, I thought for a moment that it would freeze the river. "Something like that," she answered, the tone of her voice just as frosty as her smile.

In a move that surprised all three of us, I stepped over next to Eri and put my arm around her. I figured that I had to do something to convince Haruko that there was something between Eri and me.

For a brief moment, Eri stiffened at my touch. Then, in a move that surprised me just as much as my own, she leaned against me.

Haruko, fortunately, didn't notice our hesitation or surprise. She herself looked somewhat taken aback. "When should I come by to see you, then?" she asked.

My heart was beating at an extremely fast tempo as I struggled to think of an answer. "Don't, uh, don't worry about when. Try to find me tomorrow night. I should, uh, be patrolling somewhere."

The alien stood up to her full height, which was several inches shorter than mine, and reached up to ruffle my hair. "Later then, Takkun," was all she said before jumping from the beach back up onto the bridge.

I glare after her. "My name is _Naota_!" I shouted.

Eri and I stood there, looking up at the bridge, long after the sound of Haruko's Vespa had faded. Kanchi was still standing somewhere behind us, not moving. Several minutes passed before I realized that I was still holding Eri against me. I let my arm drop, but wasn't able to step away before she grabbed my hand.

"So, you're spending the rest of the afternoon with me?" she asked me hopefully.

I opened my mouth to tell her that I just said that to get some time to think, but my brain kicked in before the words could come out. Looking at her face, I realized that she really was hoping I would spend the rest of my day with her.

Damn it. Now I was confused AGAIN. And I still had no clue as to how to clear my mind. "Uh, well, yeah," I stammered.

The dark haired girl let go of my hand, then threw her arms around my neck and pulled me down to give me a hug tight enough to make me see spots. Although Eri was tall for a girl her age, I was still a good seven inches taller than her. That, coupled with my lack of experience giving or receiving hugs from a woman made me feel rather awkward.

Feeling a little uncomfortable, I put my hands on her waist. "So," she asked when she pulled back slightly, holding her face only about six inches from mine, "what do you want to do?"

She acts all happy, then puts me on the spot like that? I nearly choked. "Well, uh, what do you want to do?"

Eri looked at my face for another long moment, then leaned her head against my chest. Right about now, I was getting ready to run; friend or no friend, there's only so much weird I can take at any given moment.

"How about," she suggested in a slow, shy tone of voice, "we just sit here for a while and you play your guitar?"

I nodded once, and she let go of me to sit down. She hugged her knees to her chest, and patted the beach next to her.

Well. I was confused over how Eri was acting, I was confused about how I was acting, and I was confused about how Eri could go from being mean to shy. Boy, did I have a long afternoon of thinking ahead of me.

After sitting down next to Eri, I played three or four songs before either of us spoke. Eri was the first one to say anything.

"So," she began, interrupting my rendition of the Goo Goo Doll's song Iris. "Did you love her?"

Her question was so sudden that I missed a couple of chords in the song. I had to stop playing, and lay the guitar across my lap to think for a moment. "I think," I answered, "that I did."

I could hear Eri sigh as she leaned her chin against her knees. "Oh."

"But," I continued, "the more I think about it, the more I realize that I didn't _love_ her. I didn't _love_ love her, I loved her almost like a parent."

With my head bowed, I ran my hands through my hair. Without looking, I knew there was an uncertain look on Eri's face. "What do you mean?"

I scratched the back of my neck as I thought for another moment. "When Haruko arrived, she tried to act like she was interested in me. She kept saying she was, but really, all she wanted from me was to use my head. Eventually, she really did play the role of a house keeper. Even though it was hard to tell sometimes, I think she really did care about us. About me. But from the view of a mother."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Eri hug her knees tighter. "Oh," was all she said.

The rest of the afternoon wore on in silence, with me playing my guitar and Eri hugging her knees and staring at the river. Kanchi had disappeared soon after Haruko left, so I thought that he was out with her. When the sun started to set, I got up.

Eri didn't notice, so I touched her on the shoulder. She jumped a little at the contact. "Come on," I said. "It's probably a good time to head home."

She gave me a big smile, stood up, and followed me back to my Moped. The drive home seemed to take longer than the drive to the beach, but I didn't mind. I was starting to feel comfortable with her arms around me, and for once it didn't scare me.

Dinner was ready when we got back, and we ate with Grandpa in silence. Eri and I finished eating at the same time, and headed up the stairs together.

During the last half of the afternoon and dinner, I had managed to clear my mind up. I realized why, when most of my friends had left, I was comfortable with just Eri Ninamori; I had come to grips with how she seemed to feel about me, and I realized that I actually felt the same about her.

Now for the hard part. We were just coming up to the door to Eri's room, and she stopped and turned toward it. I made my move.

I reached out and tapped her shoulder, prompting her to turn towards me. "What?" she asked.

In answer, I said nothing. Instead, I leaned forward and gently kissed her. For a split second, she stiffened, and I was afraid I had done something wrong. My fears were dispelled when she put her arms around my neck.

As embarrassed as I would be to admit it, it was an awkward kiss. Really, I had only kissed girls a half-dozen times in the past, and most of those were accidents. This was one of the first initiated-by-me, and not rejected kisses that I had experienced.

When our kiss ended, Eri gave me one of those looks she used whenever she beat me at a game. "Good night," she said softly, reaching up to touch my cheek.

"N-n-night," I stammered. I wasn't confused anymore, but I felt like I was in a state of shock. I knew that in the morning, everything would change; I was feeling like it would change for the better, but I still wasn't sure what I was getting into.


	5. Mission Statement

I got some emails suggesting that I do this, so here it is: a shout out to my peeps. J 

Yumikon: Much thanks for pointing out what I need to work on in grammar; I'll work on it

Rebootmaster2001: My thanks for adding me to your fav. Author list. Yeah, it's sorta lovey. It's a romance

Hawaiian Potagee, Tiny Angel, Knight's Shadow, Jade Stellar, jacombo, Vash the Unholy, Nathan Huss: Thank you for the compliments. I'll try to keep up the good work.

May I digress: Thank you for pointing out the need to explain the missing four years. The interlude was written because of you.

Anime-lover01: My thanks for suggesting a fight without Kanchi. There's on in this chapter. Let me know how I did.

just a baka hentai : I'll work on giving everyone a better look at how Naota looks now. Look for it in the next chapter or two. And maybe you will see other characters from the show coming back. Who knows?

Well, there's everyone who's reviewed so far. My thanks and love to you all for your critiques, compliments, and suggestions.

And now what you are all really here for: Chapter 4.

Enjoy.

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I walked into my bedroom and threw my guitar down on my bunk, then leaned back against the door and breathed a shuddering breath. After staring at the floor for a few minutes, trying to regain my breath, I eventually stripped down to my boxers and a tee shirt, then sat on my bed, leaning against the wall with my guitar lying across my lap.

"You've grown up, Takkun."

In reality, I should have been surprised. I knew, however, that Haruko rarely did what she was told; I hadn't really been expecting her to wait until tomorrow night to talk to me.

"What's so important that you couldn't wait to talk to me until tomorrow night?" I demanded.

Above me, I could hear the top bunk creak as she leaned over the edge to look at me. "Did you find Atomsk?" I asked when she didn't answer.

Haruko growled, a low, grating sound. "I found him. It took me five months, but I found him." Her voice dropped to a lower octave. "And what do I get when I catch him? Nothing! All that work, and his power just disappeared! Right between my fingers! And what does he do? He says he's sorry. He's _sorry!_" She snarled the last word, and the bed shuddered as she vaulted out of it and started pacing.

I leaned my guitar up against the wall and laid down on my bed, then cranked my head over to the side to watch her walk. "So? What does this have to do with me? Why come back here?"

The pink-haired woman stopped her pacing, giving me a look that said that she was a cat and I was the mouse. "You were the last one to touch the power, Takkun," she hissed. She took a moment to compose herself, then threw a big smile at me. "I'm just here to see if you still have it."

With my head turned so that I was looking back up at the bottom of the top bunk, I sighed. "I can tell you right now that I don't," I answered. "It's been four years since he and I were one, and I haven't done anything remotely like that since."

Haruko walked over to the bunk bed and pulled her guitar off of the top bed, then walked over to the window. "Think about this, Takkun," she said as she threw the window open, "how could a kid like you expect to fight all those robots without some special something?"

A light breeze ruffled the curtains after the alien woman jumped through the window.

__

Haruko thinks that I _have Atomsk's powers?_ I snorted, and closed my eyes. _She always was crazy. _Oh, well. I had better things to occupy me. The last thing I thought about before sleep claimed me was of kissing Eri.

When I woke up the next morning, I felt better than I could remember feeling. It was early in the morning, so Grandpa was busy getting the bakery ready for business and Eri hadn't come down for breakfast yet.

I poured a bowl full of cereal, then sat down to eat. As I was putting my dirty dishes in the sink and then walking over to the bakery part of our home, Eri came down the stairs and went into the kitchen, waving at me as she walked through the doorway.

By the time Eri had finished eating, grandpa and I had enough bread baking to go through the day's business. We opened the store, with Eri working the counter, Grandpa and the hired help, Jordan, were back in the store's kitchen, and I was working as a stock boy.

The store opened at ten o'clock, and we closed at four-thirty. After we finished locking up the store part of the building and sent Jordan home, Eri came up with the idea of packing up a picnic for me and her. We put the picnic basket in the cargo trunk of my Moped, strapped my guitar to Eri's back, and took off for the ocean.

We threw a blanket out on the sand of the beach and sat down. Between the two of us, we made short work of the sandwiches and salad that we brought. After eating, we sat back against a log and watched the waves.

I had just finished playing my version of the R.E.M. song "It's The End of The World As We Know It" on my guitar when we could hear an alarm begin to blare in the distance.

"What's that?" Eri asked, standing up and turning to look. I let my head hang down; without looking, I knew that clouds of steam and smoke were erupting from the base of the Medical Meccanica building. I slipped my guitar strap across my body and started to hurriedly pack up the blanket and garbage into the picnic basket.

I didn't say anything until I had packed the picnic basket into the cargo carrier. "I need you to ride in front," I told Eri. "I'll drive from behind you until we get there. Once we arrive, you take over the driving."

The dark haired young woman nodded and climbed onto the Moped. I climbed on behind her, placing my hands over hers on the handlebars, and the bike took off. We pushed the envelope with the speed and, as a result, a trip that should have taken twenty minutes only took four.

Unlike usual, the attacking robot wasn't a hand, or human shaped creation. This time, a mass of metal in a shape reminiscent of a Tyrannosaurus Rex was tearing into a tall building on the edge of Medical Meccanica's property.

Leaning against Eri, I could feel her tense up when we saw the robot. It was easily a hundred feet tall, complete with metal fangs and claws. I couldn't see any signs Haruko fighting it, which prompted me to wonder exactly where she was.

I put my lips near Eri's ear. "Get ready!" She nodded, and I started to apply pressure to the breaks. As soon as the Moped skidded to a halt, I was vaulting off of it and heading for the robotic monster at a dead run. I pulled my guitar free as I ran and, utilizing a technique I had learned from Haruko when she had used the guitar, pulled the ripcord.

The guitar buzzed to life in my hands, and I took hold of it as if it were a gun. With my finger on the trigger, I jacked the pump then unloaded an explosive round at the dinosaur. The brilliant yellow bolt of energy rocketed towards one of it's knee joints. I didn't stop running, but still watched the bolt as it hit. To my disappointment, the knee joint simply absorbed the energy.

Recognizing me as a threat, the dinobot lashed out with it's tail. I dropped to the street and rolled, hugging my guitar protectively as the giant metal tail swished overhead.

I came back up on my feet hearing a scream behind me. Looking back, I saw my Moped and Eri as they were launched into the air by the robot's powerful blow. The Moped was flinging bits and pieces of metal as it flew; Eri's long hair fanned out behind her head as she soared upward, twirling gracefully.

What happened next occurred so fast I could hardly describe it. When I saw Eri in danger, I dropped my guitar and, instinctively, jumped. I didn't realize what I had done until I held Eri in my arms while still a good hundred and fifty feet off of the ground. I panicked for a moment then, still instinctively, tried to jump again. Somehow, my feet found something solid to push against in thin air, and I launched us towards a tall building two blocks away.

I set Eri down on the rooftop and turned back to the fight. The dinobot was now tearing into another city block, but I didn't care. Because it had put Eri into danger, I was so angry that I literally saw everything through a red-tinged tunnel. Focused on my rage, I ran to the edge of the roof and launched myself into the air again, my movement not stopping until I was in the sky over the robot's back.

Looking down, I could see a red, circular symbol on the spine of the dinobot. Contorting my body so that my head pointed towards the robot's back, I pushed with my feet again, propelling myself downwards. I twisted myself around as I flew, pointing my feet towards the symbol and willing myself to fall faster. It seemed, as I fell, that my legs were wreathed in flames, as if from friction from moving through the air so fast.

I hit the symbol feet first and dead on with enough momentum that my body tore clear through the torso of the dinobot. As soon as my feet touched the road, I jumped again to throw myself clear of the explosion I knew would follow and left a crater in the middle of the street.

The explosion wasn't disappointing. Gouts of flame with pieces of robot and building debris following them created a deadly rain; cars shattered and chunks of asphalt somersaulted through the air in all directions when the bulk of the dinobot's chassis fell.

I drug myself to my feet and shakily wobbled my way over to my guitar. When I picked it up, I could see that once again it hadn't been scratched or damaged; my Moped, on the other hand, was totaled. Pieces of it were mingled in with the pieces of rubble that were strewn over the street.

Suddenly tired, confused, and in a little pain, I began limping towards the building where I had left Eri. It took me nearly ten minutes to drag myself down the two blocks to the building's entrance.

The dark haired girl was just coming out the front doors when I arrived. She immediately threw her arms around me, burying her face in my neck. Feeling her breath against my neck tickled enough to almost make me laugh, even with how drained I felt.

Kanchi touched down next to us, as light as a feather.

"Where were you at?" I demanded. He just looked at me with his monitor blank.

Behind me, I could hear footsteps. "It looks like you do have it, Takkun."

I let go of Eri and whirled to face Haruko. My eyes narrowed. "You set this up, didn't you," I accused.

Haruko gave me a blank look. "Of course," she said. "Your head isn't really the only one that works; I just had to look for some others, then bring in the troops to help me figure it out."

After thinking for a moment, I spoke again. "You've been behind all the robots, haven't you? I thought it was a virus, but I was obviously wrong." My right hand gripped my guitar even tighter, my knuckles turning white with strain.

The pink haired woman gave me a smug smile. "That's obvious, isn't it, Takkun? Every robot I fought with you appeared because of me, when you think about it. How else could they get here?"

Her gaze shifted to my guitar, and her stance widened. The grin she had on her face disappeared. "So, Takkun, are you going to hit me? Or stand there?"

Eri tugged on my sleeve, and I took a deep breath. I relaxed my grip on the guitar, bringing the strap up and over my shoulder. "I," I began, taking Eri's hand, "am going home. Leave me alone for awhile, Haruko."


	6. Roommates

Unfortunately, getting home didn't solve anything. When Eri and I arrived, there was a police car parked in front of the house. The two cops intercepted us before we had a chance to get inside, ushering me the back of their car and leaving Eri standing in front of the door.

We drove for nearly twenty minutes, leaving the city of Mabase behind us. There were no stops until we drove up to the nearby military base. Two members of a military patrol escorted me from the police car into the base and left me in what looked like an interrogation room.

The room had a large mirror on one wall, and a table with two chairs in the center of the room. I must have sat there staring at the door for over an hour before fatigue claimed me. I leaned over onto the table, laying my head on my forearms. It felt like I had just closed my eyes when I heard the door scrape open.

"I brought you a can of juice," a man's voice stated quietly. "I heard somewhere that you don't like carbonated drinks."

I didn't raise my head even though I heard the can get set on the table. "I didn't hit the T.V.," I said. "Why am I here this time?"

The sound of a large wad of paper hitting the table preceded the sound of the other chair being pulled out. "It's simple. You're here because she's back. That's it."

I've been here for who knows how long, and he won't give me a straight answer. "Amarao," I said warningly, sitting up and leaning back in the chair, "I don't want to play games. I'm tired, a little angry, and not ready to put up with your word games. Why am I here?"

The red-haired man frowned at me from behind his sunglasses and one of his fake eyebrows twitched. Instead of answering me, he flipped open one of the several files he had in front of him. "Even though you don't know it, we've been watching you since she first left. When Medical Meccanica rebuilt their building, we wondered who would stop the robots when they started coming again."

He leaned back in his chair and threw the can of juice at me. "I didn't think you would have the guts to do anything about it. After you hit that satellite back into space, I knew you had the ability to, but I wasn't really sure if you had the guts. But, proving me wrong, you fought robot warriors for four years."

I just looked at him blankly; Amarao frowned even more and continued, holding up a second file. "In here, we have recorded every single enemy you have faced down, from the time and date to the location and how you defeated them."

"So what?"

One of those infuriating eyebrows twitched again. "I'm trying to offer you some help, boy. The least you could do is be civil."

I snorted. "I exhaust myself fighting then, just as I get home, a handful of your goons abduct me, then I'm left sitting in this room for who knows how long. You want me to be civil, but you've been anything but. How, exactly, does that work out?"

"I'm trying to help," Amarao repeated.

Pushing my chair away from the table, I stood up and moved over to the door. "I really don't think I need your help," I told him. "When Haruko was her before, you weren't even able to help yourself." With a jerk, I pulled the door open. "If it's not asking too much, it would be _civil_ of you to have a car take me back to Mabase," I finished sarcastically, not even looking back. As I figured, the car that had brought me to the bas was waiting for me outside.

Since the agents dropped me of at the outskirts of Mabase, I didn't get home until well after midnight. Contrary to what I expected, there was nobody waiting up for me. As quietly as I could, I made my way up the stairs and into my bedroom. I shoved my guitar under my bed, stripped down and climbed into bed, and was asleep within moments.

My sleep didn't last. A loud noise brought me quickly awake. I stumbled out of bed in my boxers and threw my door open . . . To find that half of the hallway and Eri's entire bedroom were gone.

I managed to skid to a halt just before going over the edge and falling ten feet to the debris strewn ground. I gaped at seeing the ground where previously my house had stood, then a pair of giant metal feet caught my attention. A sound crashed into my sleep clouded brain, the sound of Eri screaming. My eyes tracked up from the robots legs across it's torso to it's right arm, where a massive hand was clenched around Eri's slender body.

My glare was drawn from there to the robots shoulder, where I could see Haruko standing, keeping her balance by leaning on the thing's head. When the reality of what I was seen forced its way into my mind, my brain suddenly heated up; my eyesight went tunnel vision, a bright red blocking out everything to the side and only allowing me to see Haruko.

I leapt into the air, intent on Haruko and only Haruko; she easily dodged my punch, grabbing my arm after my fist had left its impression on the metal of the robot's head. "Just think, Takkun," she purred in my ear. "If you're trying to fight me, who's going to save your little girlfriend?" With a flick of her wrist, she spun me around in midair; using the momentum of my movement, I kicked out at her. She tried to dance out of reach of the blow, but her eyes opened wide and her mouth was agape as I knocked her away and out of sight.

Without giving my actions any thought, and still standing on thin air, I turned myself around and flew towards the hand that was clenched around Eri. Her shrieks were growing weaker, and I could see her face beginning to turn the same shade of color as her hair as the air was squeezed out of her.

All I had to do was touch the metal wrapped around her, and it exploded outward. I caught Eri before she could fall to the ground, and saw the robot reeling backwards as I carried her through the air to set her down in the doorway to my room. Slowly, I straightened my body, my back to the robot that I knew was still there.

This time the punch I threw didn't just dent the robot--it blew its body into about billion different chunks. As the pieces of metal began slapping into the ground, I realized that I was still standing on air about twenty feet off of the ground; with realization came movement: I quickly fell the distance left between myself and dirt.

I had made it most of the way back up the stairs before the house was shaken by an explosion; without even thinking about it, I knew that there would be no evidence of my robotic opponent outside except for the gaping hole in the side of our house. Eri was still standing where I left her in front of the door to my room.

She was wearing nothing more than a light nightdress, and I could see her shivering in the cool night air. Since there was nowhere else for her to stay, I ushered her into my room and into the top bunk. Since she was in shock--a blank look was on her face as she stared up at the ceiling--I tucked a blanket around her and wished her goodnight. She didn't answer, and I turned out the light and went back to bed.

My eyes were just starting to close when the presence of someone standing next to my head made them snap back open. I saw Eri standing there; she stood silently for a few moments, then pulled my blankets back and climbed onto my bed. She snuggled her body up against mine and pulled the covers back up.

"Uh, Eri?" I stammered.

She pulled my arm around her and nestled her head into my pillow. "I'm cold," she murmured, sounding half asleep. She coughed a handful of raspy coughs and sighed, then fell asleep.

What's going on here? I wondered as the scent of Eri's hair started to make my head spin. _I get the feeling that something important is happening here. But what is it?_

Damn. Now I was confused **again**.


	7. Self Knowledge

Author's note: My apologies for the sporadic nature of my updates. My muse went on strike, then was murdered somewhere. So I had to see about hiring a new one. Hopefully, my new muse will be a little more timely in inspiring my writing. (BTW, that was figuratively speaking. No one was actually killed to prevent my writing. Don't take it literally.)

When my mind started making it's journey toward wakefulness, I got the feeling that something was wrong. No, not wrong, just . . . different. I was content to doze, considering this feeling, until I felt the movement of air across my face.

Instantly, my mind was slammed awake. As I struggled to comprehend the fact that there was a woman in my bed, I started to pull my arm away from where it lay draped across her waist. A whimper from Eri stopped that motion cold, and I realized I had no interest in waking her up.

My eyes glazed over and I stared off into space and, as I remembered the events of the night before, I could feel the anger building inside of me. I remembered the robot and how it was squeezing the life out of the dark-haired girl lying next to me. The only other thing I remembered was Haruko-that evil smirk on her face, and how she taunted me.

Focusing on Eri's face calmed me down immediately and replaced the anger with a strange tenderness. Distantly, I remembered a saying I had once heard: "The purity of a person's soul can be seen in their face when they are sleeping." From where I was lying, I figured that Eri had the purest soul on earth.

I laid there looking at her for what seemed an eternity before I decided that I had get up. In a series of movements that would have amazed a contortionist, I managed to crawl over Eri's sleeping body and off of the bed without waking her up. I grabbed a set of clean clothes out of my dresser, then headed out of my room and for the bathroom. I had just gotten my pants on when I realized that all of Eri's clothes were probably scattered all over our small yard. Because I was suddenly in a rush to get some clothes for her before she woke up, I didn't bother putting my shirt on; I ran out of the bathroom, down the stairs, and out the back door.

Miraculously, Eri's dresser drawers seemed to have survived the destruction of her bedroom and the rest of her dresser; they were lying neatly on the ground near a small pile of shattered floorboards. I grabbed a pair of jeans, a shirt, and a set of undergarments out, then hurried back into the house. When I got back into my room, I found Eri still sleeping in my bed. I piled her clothes onto a chair, then headed back to the bathroom to shave and finish getting dressed.

After lathering up, I looked at my reflection in the mirror and laughed. Here I am, sixteen years old with a grand total of about eight whiskers on my face and I'm treating shaving like it's an all important thing to do. After quickly shaving, going to the bathroom, and putting my shirt on, I headed back into my room.

Somehow, I completely forgot that Eri was in there. My memory was quickly refreshed when, upon opening the door, I saw her. She had her pants on, but was clutching her shirt to her chest as she looked at her body in my mirror. A body that, I knew, should have been a rather pale skin tone but was instead black. And blue. My mouth gaped open. It wasn't due to the fact that there was a half-naked girl standing in front of me, but because I couldn't believe what had happened to her. Because of Haruko.

The anger I had felt earlier that morning resurfaced a million times stronger. I backed out through the bedroom door and slammed it behind me. Not aware of where I was going, I quickly walked through our house.

"You have to learn to control it,"

The gentle voice caught me completely by surprise, and I found myself standing on the sidewalk in front of the entrance to our bakery. Next to and slightly behind me stood the balding form of Grandpa's hired help, Jordan Randal. "What do you know?" I asked heatedly.

When the older man put his hand on my shoulder, I could feel my anger bleeding away. "I know a great deal about it," he told me quietly. "But you wont do anyone any good unless you learn control."

__

I'll show him control, the thought raced unbidden through my mind. I shook his hand off of me, and leapt into the air. And came crashing back down. "Why didn't I fly?" I wondered out loud.

I saw a pair of boots step up beside my face. "Control is important; nearly the most important. The only thing more important than control is knowledge. _Self_ knowledge." I started getting angry again, but his touch drained the emotion from me again.

"I know how your newfound power works. More importantly, I know _why_ it works. But in order to control it, you need to learn that why."

"And the next thing I know, you'll be telling me why _she_ is after me," I sneered at him, fully believing that he would have no idea who I was referring to.

Randal roughly pulled me to my feet. "You're damn right I know why," he snapped, obviously frustrated by my attitude. He paused and took a moment to calm himself. "You obviously don't care enough to listen to me, though," he said, releasing his hold on me. "But when the time comes that you realize how much _she_ has hurt you, you can come find me. I will be at work."

With a whisper of clothing, he was gone. And I was confused. Deep in thought, I wandered into the back yard, and started cleaning up the debris. A sharp piece of wood cut my finger, and I angrily kicked it across the yard.

"Why are you so angry, Naota?" I had heard Eri come into the yard a few minutes earlier, and knew that she was standing there watching me. That took my mind off of what Jordan Randal had said, and now had me more confused in a different way. I hated watching other people do things; why did she insist on watching me?

I sighed and let my shoulders sag. "I feel like someone has rigged the play again," I told her. "I'm being pushed into a role that I don't want to play. I've been turned into the enemy of a woman who used to be one of the most important people in the world to me. I don't know how: I didn't do anything."

She stepped closer to me. "I'll tell you what. If you keep cleaning up out here, I'll sit and listen to you scream at how unfair it is. I'll even help. It will be like we're little kids again." When she reached out to take the load of clothes out of my arms, her hands touched mine. The hair on my neck stood straight up, and I shivered at the electric current that suddenly ran through my body. After taking her clothes from me, Eri gave me a weird look then started walking away.

"Oh," she said, turning halfway around to see me. "Since I'm out a room and a dresser, I'm gonna put all of my clothes in the empty dresser in your room. Okay?" Without waiting for an answer, she turned back around and continued walking.

I stood there for a few minutes, confused, before getting back to cleaning up the yard. I had just finished throwing the last pieces of shattered wood into a pile when I realized that Jordan Randal actually must know something about my situation. Eri came to find me to ask if I still wanted to scream, but I lied and told her that I felt better. I hurried away from her and into the bakery, looking for Jordan. I found him and Grandpa standing around, doing nothing, so I asked if he would talk to me. He took me back into the storeroom, and sat me down.

"Will you listen now?" he asked calmly.

I nodded. "You're not who you say you are," I stated.

"Oh?" He actually looked amused.

While I was thinking, I had come to an inescapable conclusion. "You're Atomsk."

When I thought about what he had said earlier, it made perfect sense. Other than Haruko, Atomsk's love, who would know how to harness the power that Atomsk himself had? See? It really was simple.

"I was almost afraid you wouldn't figure it out," he told me with a smirk. "That's why I had to make it so obvious."

I stood up in an angry rush. "Then why don't _you_ do something about all this?" I waved my arms around.

His eyes took on the look of someone who had been deeply hurt. "Because," he told me in a whisper, "I can't."

My jaw dropped. "The man with enough N.O. to steal whole star systems can't do anything?"

Randal dropped down to sit cross-legged on the floor, and waved at me to sit back down. "The answer to that question is simple. It's part of why you can do the things you do."

We sat in silence for a few moments before I got uncomfortable. "And why can I do what I do?" I asked quietly, almost dreading the answer.

"The reason you have my powers," Jordan Randal answered me slowly, "is because of love."


	8. Love

"Love?" I asked incredulously, leaning back in my seat. The confusion I felt was manifesting itself on my face, I knew. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"If you can listen, I will tell you," Jordan Randal-Atomsk-quietly answered. "And to tell you that, I will have to tell you the history of Raharu and I."

I nodded my acceptance of his condition, and he took a deep breath. "When I met Raharu Haruha, she had just entered the Space Patrol; I was a sergeant assigned to train her unit when she started. As I spent more time around her, I began to get more and more interested in her. In her wit, her intelligence, her sunny personality. After she graduated training, we started to get closer.

"My species," he continued, "has a much greater ability to utilize N.O. than any other. That was a closely guarded secret until this episode. I started to use that ability to get gifts for my newfound love. When Raharu realized how I was doing it, she became obsessed with gaining that ability for herself. I left the Patrol and, though I loved her more than life itself, I ran."

He stopped and took a deep breath, but didn't go on. "You were going to tell me what love had to do with it," I reminded him.

Atomsk nodded. "The first place I ran to was my home planet. I was welcomed, albeit somewhat cautiously. My people avoid strong emotional connections, and my obvious distress made them uneasy. The first place I went was to the High Council. The councilors were amazed at the amount of power I exhibited, and asked me to remain confined to the quarters that I was assigned. I waited there for weeks, until I was called back. They revealed to me an ancient text, one that wasn't made available except for extreme cases. It told of why those emotional attachments were forbidden; what it said is that the stronger the emotion, the more our N.O. could accomplish. The strongest accomplishments came from love.

"Raharu showed up at the planet a mere month after I had arrived. I knew immediately that I had to leave, and went into hiding. I constantly moved from planet to planet, space station to space station. I fell in with a group of pirates, but my emotions still got the better of me. I kept constant track of where Raharu was, and was constantly sending her little gifts, hoping that her love for me would overcome her desire for power. My reputation grew to what you have heard about me, but nothing I did could change her.

"The incident here, four years ago, made me realize the truth. As I came to see her as she truly is, my love for her disappeared. I fell back to the old ways of my ancestors. When I left, I had only enough power left to damage the Medical Meccanica and escape. Raharu found me a couple of months after that, puttering around nearly powerless. She went crazy, and tore up the space station we were on. I knew right away where she would go, and so I came here, to see if there was anything I could do," he finished, taking another deep breath and releasing it as a sigh.

"So, you're saying that love brings all this out?" I asked cautiously. "How can it do that for me? Plenty of people love others here, and none of them can do what I've done. I've never even heard of anyone flying, or using 'super strength' ever."

Atomsk looked up at me with eyes that showed a deep sadness. "I'm afraid that's something else that's my fault," he ruefully told me. "When I was in your body, I somehow altered your DNA at the most basic level. Completely by accident," he added hurriedly when I frowned. "I'm still not sure how I did it, but it imparted some of my basic powers to you. It seems that your species has the potential for personal flight, and the greater strength, but those parts of your genetic code have been locked out, so to speak."

"I'm still not sure that love's the reason," I stated confidently. "I don't love Haruko, not like you did. And I'm not sure that I love her in any other way right now."

"I didn't say you had to love Raharu," Atomsk reminded me, spitting me with a look that made me feel as though he was looking into my soul. "But there is someone you love, someone that you would do anything to protect and shelter."

"I don't understand," I told him plaintively.

Atomsk shook his head. "That knowledge is something you'll have to come to on your own," he said. "If I told you the answer, you'd deny it. And then it would take you far too much time to arrive at the obvious truth."

My mind was flying in circles, I was so confused. "Too much time?" I asked weakly, not sure if I wanted to hear the answer. "What do you mean by that?"

"Someone has to stop Raharu," Atomsk answered, giving me another on of his "looks." "If this continues, it will simply make life miserable for everybody, and still never get what she wants. Because of your species unique DNA, and how the power has manifested in you, it will be up to you to defeat her. It's part of what's different between you and me. Physically, we're the same. But where I could utilize N.O. to move or create objects, you can utilize it for flight, and strength. Beyond what my capabilities were. You can be stronger and faster than I could ever be under any situation."

"Randal!" The angry shout startled both Atomsk and I out of our conversation. "Get back out into the store! I don't pay you to sit around the storeroom all day with my lazy grandson." Shigekuni, my grandfather, withdrew his head from the doorway to the storeroom we were in. "Young people," I could hear him grumble as he walked away. "Always talking about fooly coolying or something like that when there's work to be done. I come out of retirement to run this place, and the hired help wont even help."

Atomsk stood up and patted me on the shoulder. "I would appreciate it if you would keep my real name a secret," he told me. "It would only cause problems if Raharu knew I was here. But you, I do believe, have a lot of thinking to do right now."

With my mind somewhat overloaded, I wandered back into the house and up to my room. For some reason, Eri wasn't in there, and I wasn't sure where she was. I grabbed a jacket off of the back of a chair, and my guitar from next to the door. I was heading out the front door when behind me I heard Eri's footsteps in the stairway. I didn't stop walking.

Completely lost in thought, I wandered the streets of Mabase. _He didn't say I had to love Haruko_, I thought. _But someone I want to protect? Shelter? What's that all about?_ I found myself sitting near the town bridge, staring at the water rushing past me.

"So, you're saying that love brings all this out?" I could hear the question resonating through my mind. Unbidden images began to float past my mind's eye, images of my recent battles. I could see Eri's hair fanned out like a cape as she soared through the air, downtown's buildings in the background; the red haze burned out my peripheral vision, and I could feel my legs flex against the pavement beneath me.

That image began to fade, and a new one came to the fore. I saw a giant robotic fist, attached to an equally large body, that held Eri in it's grasp. Her long, dark hair cascaded down across the robot's fingers, and I could see her mouth moving as she desperately tried to suck air down into her lungs. Almost imperceptibly, the fist tightened it's grip, and Eri's face began to turn an intense shade of red and blue. My line of sight tracked up the robot's arm to it's shoulder, where Haruko was leaning against the robot's head with a smirk on her face. Once again, my vision went red, filtering out everything I was seeing with the exception of Haruko. I crouched to leap into the air and attack her.

"But there is someone you love, someone that you would do anything to protect and shelter," Atomsk had said earlier.

"I don't understand," had been my reply.

Now I did.

Prior to this thinking episode, I had thought I had just been attracted to Eri. She was my closest friend, but not someone I had been interested in dating until recently. Whenever I needed support, she was there for me, with a good attitude and the listening skills I needed.

Now I knew why. Why Atomsk's powers were manifesting.

I loved her. The dark haired, intelligent, gentle, and possessive girl that lived in my house. I loved Eri Ninamori.


	9. Guitars Are Weapons, Too

Weeks started to pass in a blur. For some reason I wasn't able to understand, Haruko's attacks stopped. As swiftly as they had started, they were over. Because my school grades had started to drop, Grandpa ended up firing me. That was okay with me: I hated the bakery anyways, and my father had just started sending money to me from where he worked in the United States. Eri wasn't struggling in school at that time, but then she never seemed to have trouble with her classes. She somehow got Grandpa to lighten her work load so that she could spend more time with me. Grandpa had to hire a few new employees, so he was understandably furious.

Our first day back to school after Eri and I shared our first kiss found us being stared at as we walked up to the building holding hands. That became part of our daily routine: we'd get up and eat, hold hands for our entire trip to school, then hold hands as we walked home.

Grandpa couldn't afford to replace Eri's demolished bedroom, so she was forced to move into my top bunk. It made life for me a little more complicated but, since coming to the realization that I loved the dark haired girl, I easily coped with the situation.

Atomsk--Jordan Randal--took me on as an apprentice of sorts. He couldn't actually show me how to use my powers since his had abandoned him, and he couldn't walk me through control while I was using the power, either.

That's the interesting thing about my new abilities: the only thing that could bring them out was a direct threat against Eri. Not the threat that I knew Haruko was, but only a direct threat against her life.

For the most part, life went on as it had before Haruko had turned up again. There were some differences, of course. Before, when I had gone to the river to think, I had been there alone. Now I would find Eri sitting there with me. Now if I went shopping, I couldn't just go to stores that I wanted to; I would have to visit some more "girly" stores while I was there. But I was feeling happier and more relaxed than I could remember ever feeling in the past.

I came to a sudden realization one afternoon, while doing some "theoretical training" with Atomsk. We had just finished our session, and were walking towards my dark haired girlfriend, when it hit me. I stopped, and slowly turned towards my "mentor."

"Haruko's expecting us to do this, isn't she?" It was more a statement than a question. I already knew the answer. "We're doing exactly what she wants."

"But, of course," Jordan gave me a curious look. "I had thought it obvious. Raharu thinks that she can absorb your power only after you fully realize it."

I stared at him, openmouthed, wondering why he hadn't just told me to begin with. Jordan turned to look at my guitar--which Eri was holding--and tapped his chin with his forefinger as a thoughtful look began to dominate his visage. "You will need a new weapon, though," he mused. "Your old guitar just wont hold up if you have to fight her."

He snapped his fingers and spun to face me, fixing me with an intense look. "I just figured out a way you can use your N.O. right now. Go get your guitar.

If confusion was a color, I would have been painted head to toe with it. Obediently, I retrieved my treasured instrument and returned to stand in front of Atomsk. "Now," he told me, "I want you to hit me as hard as you can. With the guitar."

Even though I was confused as all Hell (again!), my lips quirked into a smile as I recognized the quote. I gripped the neck of my guitar like a bat, and swung it as though I was trying to hit the game winning ball.

The tall, gangly, balding man was knocked flying; he skidded to a halt several feet away, lying flat on his back on the pavement and staring up at the darkening sky. I stood there, rooted to the spot, hardly able to believe I had just done what I had. Before I could move to help him, the older man groaned and pushed himself to a sitting position. He slowly rearranged his legs so that he was sitting cross-legged; he motioned me forward.

"You didn't have to be so enthusiastic," he grumbled.

"I'm sorry," I choked out, fixated on the huge welt that was forming on the side of his head.

He waved away my apology. "I told you to do it. Why should you apologize?"

I stood there and stammered like an idiot for a few moments, Eri watching us with a mixed look of concern and amusement on her perfect face.

"Are you done?" Jordan asked when I paused to take a breath. All I could do is nod. "Then there is one final step: picture what you think is the perfect guitar, then stick your hand into my head."

Images of several guitars, including Haruko's double necked one, ran through my head. I decided that I needed the most powerful one I knew of, a copy of Haruko's. Bt I balked at actually trying to shove my hand into this man's skull.

"Don't think!" Jordan barked. "Act! Thought leads to doubt, and doubt to failure. There is no failure for you: there is only action!"

Startled into movement, I stiffened my fingers and jammed my hand into his skull. It didn't feel anything like I expected. I thought my hand would hurt from ramming my fingertips into such a hard surface. Instead of hard, it felt like pushing through a thin layer of JELLO. I looked down to see my hand disappearing into his forehead nearly up to the elbow. Now, my hand felt like it was flailing around in the air until I finally latched onto something hard. I pulled with all my strength, pushing against Jordan's body with one foot. After what seemed like an eternity, the object I was holding pulled free, sending me sprawling.

I looked down at the guitar I held in my hands. It wasn't what I had thought I was going to pull out, but I was stunned by the beauty and artistry of it. I was actually awed at being able to hold such a beautiful instrument again.

Not surprisingly, I recognized the guitar from the last time I had held one, while merged with Atomsk. "Amazing," I heard Jordan whisper.

"What is it?" Eri asked in a similarly hushed voice.

I hardly heard what they were saying. My sight was filled with the beauty of the instrument I held. "It's the most powerful one out there," Jordan told my girlfriend. "Raharu is going to be very angry. It's just like the one I summoned while I was in his body. This a 1961 Gibson EB-0; actually, it's the first, the original.

"It was the last gift I gave her. And now it's his."


End file.
